Automatic electric gate



2 Sheets-Sheet 1..

(No Model.)

I. W. WATSON.

AUTOMATIC ELECTRIC GATE.

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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

1". W. WATSON.

AUTOMATIC ELECTRIC GATE.

1101. 251,009. 1 Patented Dec. 13,1881.

WITjgEjE/E I IN ENTEIR N. PETERS. mowumo m. wmzn m. 0.6.

UNITED STATES -PATENT OFFICE.

FREDFV. TVATSON, OF HARVEY, NEW BRUNSWICK, CANADA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALFTO CHAR-LES F. OONLEY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

AUTOMATIC ELECTRIC GATE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 251,009, dated December13, 1881,

Application filed October '1, 1880. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, FRED W. WATSON, ofHarvey, Albert county, New Brunswick, in the Dominion of Canada, nowcommorant of the city of Boston, Massachusetts, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Automatic Gates for Railways, Roads, andother Purposes, of which the following is a specification.

My improvements relate to devices for preventing the passage ofcarriages, 850., alon g one way, across another way on which there is anapproaching train or carriage, and also for removing gates or opening away in places where it is desired to keep a passage closed, except whentemporarily opened for passing through, and which devices are operatedfor opening or closing such way, or both, by the approach of a passingtrain or carriage, without the immediate attention of an attendant. I amaware that heretofore many contrivances for the same general purposehave been constructed and patented; but with the automatic gates so farin use, especially in connection with railwaytracks, severaldifficulties have arisen which have not yet been practically obviated.The machinery by which they are operated has been complex, expensive,and contrived to operate in such a way as to close immediately onbeginning to close, which sometimes results in danger to those passingunder at the time.

The objects of my improvements are to provide a simple, economical gate,operated with certainty automatically, and so as to be partially closedat first, and then fully, or to close so gradually as not to causeaccidents, and then to be held in position, either closed or open, whileits operation is desired, and also to be put automatically in conditionby any passing train or carriage to be operated in the same way by thenext one.

The nature of my improvements will appear more fully from the followingdescription, taken in connection with the drawings, in which- Figure 1shows, in section, a contrivance embodyin g my improvements, thehalf-closed and closed position of the gate being shown in dotted lines.Fig. 2 represents a vertical section through the same, enlarged andreversed. Fig. 3 represents rails and a truck.

Similar letters represent the same thing in the different figures.

A A are railway-rails. B is a bar or gate hung ona shaft, E, andweighted at O. D is a support or hollow pillar. F is a wheel fixed 0nthe shaft E. G is a cam-fiange on the wheel F, also fixed to the shaftE, and having teeth or catches g g. h h are pawls or notched leverspivoted at s s, and connected bya cord or jointed rod. i is a pin in thewheel F, which is connected by a chain or cord under pulleys 7c 7c withthe bottom of the stud or rod K, and connected with the pin 2' in such away that it lies over a part of the circumference of the arbor or wheelF. The stud or rod K has its upper end near the rail A, and has belowthe roadbed, and as shown, a catch, 15, and a pin, 00.

a a are conductors to be connected with the positive and negative polesof an electric machine or battery, and which may be connected with theknobs b b.

c c are wires, connected with the knob b at one end and with the helicesaround the magnets L and M, respectively. 61 d are other wires,connected with the knob b at one' end, and are connected at the otherends with conductors at the rails A A, of which d has a break or openingat c, which are in turn connected with the wires d d, which are alsoconnected with the coils of the magnets L and M, respectively.

O is an armature of the magnet L, attached to the lever Q, which latteris pivoted at 0, and has a catch, 20.

P is an armature of the magnet M, attached to the lever It, pivoted atl.

m is a spring connected with the end of the lever Q, and operated todraw the latter, with its armature O,'away from the magnet L and towardthe stud K.

n is a wire, cord, or chain connecting thelever R to the pawls h h. v

p is a spring operating the pawls h h and the lever B in opposition tothe force of the magnet M.

y is a spring operating to raise the stud K vertically. and operatingupon the stud K at the other.

S S are conductors on the track, each of which may consist either of asection of the rail or of wires near the rail, and are connected with zz are levers pivoted at one end,

IOO

the wires d d at one end, and are disconnectedat the other end, andthese conductors S S are longer than the width of the way intended to beclosed by the operation of the gate.

The operation of my contrivail'ce is as follows: When the gate B isupward and open, I

and held there by the weight 0, in the form shown in the drawings, andthe stud K is downward, the catch t engaged with catch to, and thearmatures P and O are free from their magnets and held off by thesprings 19 and m, and the negative wire from an electric battery ormachine is connected with the knob b and the positive wire is connectedwith the knob b, the battery or machine being in operation, suppos ing acar or train approaching on the rails A A in the direction of the arrow,when the wheels of the car reach the point e the break in the wire disclosed at 6 directly if both parts of the wire d are at the same rail,and through the medium of the car-axleif they are at opposite rails, andthe electric circuit thereby closed, the current passing through 0,through the coil L, through d and d, to the negative pole, inducingmagnetism, which, acting on the armature 0, draws the lever Q, settingfree the catch w, when the spring 1 being set free, lifts the stud K,drawing the chain H, which, operating upon the circumference of thewheel F, turns it, with its shaft E, through a part of a revolution, andcarrying the gate 15 downward part way until it is caught by the pawl hand held at a sufficient height to allow any person or carriage passingunder at the time of its beginning to drop to escape from under it. Thegate is held in this position for a brief period of time, the stud Khaving been moved upward by the spring y, and, lifting thelevers z 2,remains in that position. When the wheels of the car arrive at thenearest end of the conductors S S, the circuit is again closed, so thata current passes through c, the coil around the magnet M, the wire 61,and the conductors S S, inducing magnetism, attracting the armature-P,so as to operate the lever B, and the wire a, draws the pawl h,whichfrees the catch g, and allows the wheel to revolve farther and the gateto be drawn down by the force of the spring '1, while the pawl h engageswith the teeth 9 of the cam G and holds the gate in its closed position.Now, when the car advances so that the wheels strike the levers z, thelatter are depressed, carrying downward the stud K, until the catches tw are again engaged, and the spring 3 is tense and ready for action atthe next approach of a train.

The conductors S S are made of a length equal to or greater than thewidth of the way Which the gate is designed to close, because so long asany of the wheels remain upon them the electric circuit is closed andthe armature P is held to the magnet M, so that the gate remains closed.When the last pair of wheels passes offfrom the conductors atSS,thecircuit is broken, the armature P is released, and the spring 1) raisesthe pawl h, releasing its catch from the tooth g, and the weight 0causes the gate B to resume its open or vertical position. ,A rod'may beused in place of part of chain H,

with a lever pivoted at one end and connected at the other end to thestud K, all operating in like manner. I have thus described theconstruction and operation of one form of a simple contrivanceembodying. my improvements.

It is obvious that when used for closing highways that run acrossrailroads, where it may be desirable to have two or four gates insteadof one, they can easily be arranged by substantially the same mechanism,the one gate being connected with a second by cords and pulleys or othersimple arrangement, and the apparatus being duplicated for other trackswhen necessary.

I am aware of English Letters Patent No. 1,270 of the year 1855, and donot claim anything described or shown therein.

I claim as new and of my invention- 1. A gate, B, with its shaft E andweightC, an electro-magnet, L, wires 0 d, arranged to connect the magnetwith an electro machine or battery and with the track, and to induce acircuit by the closing of a break at the track, an armature, O,lever Q,spring y, stud K, chain H, pawl h, and catch g, constructed and combinedto operate in connection with a car-track or carriage-way for thepartial automatic closing of the gate by the approach of a carriage,substantially as set forth.

2. A gate, B, with its shaft and weight, an electro-magnet, M, withwires 0 d, arranged to connect the magnet with an electro machine orbattery and with the track, conductors S S at the track, an armature, P,lever R, wire a, wheel F, pawl h, catch g, spring 0 pawl h, and catch 9,constructed and combined to operate in connection with a car-track orcarriage-way for the automatic closing of the gate by a passingcarriage, substantially as set forth.

3. In an automatic mechanism for closing a gate by a passing car,substantially as herein set forth, the combination of rail A, lever z,stud K, catches t w, spring y, spring m, and

lever Q, constructed and adapted to set the automatic closing mechanismby one passing car for the approach of another, essentially as setforth.

at. The described automatic mechanism for opening and closing a way bythe passing of a carriage, consisting of magnets M and L, gate B, wheelF, conductors S S, and the herein-described wires, armatures, levers,and connections, or their equivalents, constructed and combined tooperate such gate by the breaking and closing of an electric circuit,essentially as herein set forth.

5. A mechanism for operating a gate for railway-crossings and otherpurposes, consisting of conductors at the rails, electro-magnets, andarmatures with connected levers, and the springs acting in opposition tosaid magnets, and of a spring acting in opposition to the de siredmotion of the gate, and to a lever operated by a passingwheel,constructed and combined substantially as herein set forth.

' FRED WV. WATSON. Witnesses:

UHAR'LEs E. PRATT, H. I. NASH.

